


Impossibly Enchanting

by ladysparkles



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Charles Xavier has a Ph.D in Adorable, Erik is a Sweetheart, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-17 04:21:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4652064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladysparkles/pseuds/ladysparkles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charles is well liked in the kingdom as the young prince, but he has many obligations still to fulfill, including finding an eligible to make his princess. But when Charles lays eyes on an intriguing knight, he finds himself hopelessly distracted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Two Loners at the Ball

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize for any issues, mistakes, etc in this. I wrote it years ago and am only just getting around to posting it now. It was also originally intended to be Disney-esque so that's why it's so cheesy. (Sorry :/ )

Prince Charles stared out the window of his carriage as it rode him back to his palace, nearly overwhelmed by the emotions he was feeling. He was exhausted from spending all day with a young duchess and her family, disappointed that the two of them had no chemistry, and afraid that he’d never meet the right person. He just wanted to meet someone who appreciated him and was interesting enough to have conversation with. Was that too much to ask for? He made it inside the palace and once inside exhaled deeply. Charles’s puppy went trotting up to his feet, wagging its tail. Charles lifted up the dog, held it, and walked to his study to sit and read.

The dog licked Charles’ face with its tiny tongue. Charles laughed. “I wish everyone were as easy to love as you are.”

There was a knock at the door. “Come in!” Charles said.

“How was your day, Your Highness?” Charles’s courtier, Moira, asked.

“Disappointing.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Oh, well. Tell me that there’s something more important going on than my romantic life.”

“Actually, when I was in town today I heard that a group of knights have slain the dragon.”

Charles was impressed by the thought of adventurous, brave, and strong knights. He couldn’t leave it at just that, he wanted hear and learn more about it. “We should have a celebration for their success. Let’s throw a ball in three days.”

Moira nodded. “Consider it done.”

————————————————————————–

Moira approached Charles during the ball. “Don’t you think you ought to make a speech or remark of some sort?”

“Oh, I guess so.” Charles clinked his glass and stood up. He got flustered with so many eyes on him. “Thanks for coming. Um everybody, thank you. This party is to extend my gratitude and appreciation to the knights who slew the dragon that was threatening the kingdom.” He raised his glass and the rest of the guests did the same. As soon as people turned away, Charles sat back down, trying to wipe his sweaty palms off on his pants subtly.

Sir Erik had never been in such a large palace before. Initially he had been completely intimidated by the other guests and downright unwilling to put on a suit and interact with them. When he saw the prince giving his speech, he very nearly felt himself blushing. The prince was more handsome than he had expected. Surely it would be inappropriate to speak to him personally, not to mention Erik’s poor social skills didn’t equip him to talk to anyone there at all.

Once the ball carried on, most of the guests were dancing or socializing. Charles left his isolated spot to join the one knight who wasn’t dancing.

“Enjoying yourself?” Charles asked, tapping Sir Erik on the back.

Erik turned around, nonchalantly at first. Once he realized Charles was the prince he sprang to his feet and bowed modestly. “Yes, thank you for the invitation, Your Highness.”

“Are you sure? I understand if you are not.”

“Sorry. First time in a palace, first time in such a fancy crowd like this.” Erik said, quickly regretting how impertinent he must have sounded.

“Do you want an inside look at the castle?” Charles asked.

“Um… I don’t kn–”

“I can show you all the interesting spots and secrets; you’ll see it’s not so intimidating.”

“Okay…”

“I’ll give you the inside scoop on the other guests too.”

“Yeah, sure.” Erik shrugged.

“Come with me.” Charles extended his hand to Erik. Erik placed his hand in Charles’s and followed him off.


	2. The Grand Tour

Charles held Erik’s hand gently and took him out of the ball room to the rest of the palace. First they walked out the main corridor.

Erik looked all around. “It’s beautiful.” He didn’t know what else to say. It probably was beautiful, but the only thought running through Erik’s head was that the prince was giving him a tour of the castle and he needed to be on his best behavior.

“You don’t have to compliment every room we go into.” Charles said, smiling at Erik.

“You’re right, sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Charles led Erik to the kitchens, studies, chapels, and to the dining rooms.

“Do you use all of these rooms?”

“At times, yes. But certainly not everyday. Do you want to see where I spend most of my time?”

“I’d love to.” Erik followed Charles into the castle’s huge library. “Wow.” This time his admiration was entirely genuine.

“I know.” Charles smiled.

“Do you really spend all your time in here?”

“Pretty much. When I was younger I used to do things all over the castle and the grounds, but that got boring, this didn’t.”

“I could imagine.”

“And it’s great because when you go out or go exploring people are constantly watching you, but if I’m here I’m pretty much left alone.”

“Sounds nice.” Erik smiled wistfully, and then turned looked at one section of books before Charles could catch a glimpse of his vulnerability. “So what are you reading?”

“My goal is to read everything. Right now I’m reading about exotic animals. What I’ve seen in my life doesn’t come close to what is out there in the world and if I can’t experience it, then I want to at least know everything about what I’m missing, even if it makes me sad.” Charles stopped himself. “But that’s not important.”

“How far away from ‘everything’ are you?”

Charles smiled. “Pretty far, but I don’t care. It’ll be sad the day it’s all over.”

“But then you’ll be set to conquer the world.”

“That’s one way of looking at it.” Charles grabbed Erik’s hand again. “Here, come here.” He dragged him to one of the large windows of the library.

“You can see everything from here.” Erik commented, he could see the lakes, the mountains, it really seemed like he could see everything.

“You can. You’re taller than me, but I bet it makes even you feel little.” Erik nodded. “It’s quite a view during the day too.” Charles added.

Erik paused, continuing to gaze out the window.

“Okay, there’s something else you really should see.” Charles took Erik out of the library. He took him all the way up as far as they could get, into one of the castle’s towers. “You can see really far out from here. And if you’re not scared, look down.”

Erik looked down bravely, almost stumbling back when he realized how high up they were. “Oh gosh.”

“Yeah, I know. But we’re totally safe up here.”

“Good. What do you use this place for?”

“Nothing, really. I mean, at least not anymore. So it’s sort of a place to go for just being alone with thoughts. I think if I were a writer or artist I could come up here to write or draw, but I don’t do either.”

Erik nodded, a soft breeze blew through the small space. Both Erik and Charles placed their elbows up on the ledge, the two of them were side by side.

“How did you become a knight?” Charles asked.

“I enlisted. Or rather, I reached a point in my life where I needed to fight something. Being a knight was the only way to do that ethically. I demanded that I be allowed to enlist and I think my recklessness convinced people.”

“Do you like being a knight?”

“I sort of do. It beats being a mere smith, but I’m so isolated.”

“Really? I thought you get to go on adventures.”

“Only occasionally. I’m usually either training or riding from one place to the next.”

“What about the dragon?”

“That was the first real adventure, I guess.”

Charles leaned forward. “Tell me about it.”

“We came across it by one of the valleys near the mountains, and to kill it you’ve got to get up there and stab it good so that it really dies. But you’ve got to get up there, so it needed to be distracted by something. I was the distraction.”

“How did you distract it?”

“First by riding right in front of it, then by riding sort of all over in a confusing pattern.”

“And it never hurt you?”

“Nope.” Erik grinned. “I’m too fast.”

Charles smiled. “That’s impressive.”

“Thank you. What about you? Being the prince?” Erik asked, to put the focus back on Charles where it should belong.

“It’s mostly pretty boring. I’m pretty cooped up here, so I’m mostly here on my own.”

“Um… do you ever become king?”

“At some point, yes. It’s really not much different then, just also getting invited to a lot of events and places.”

“But when you’re king, everything is yours, right? So you could do something else if you want to?”

“Theoretically, but I would still be limited. I can’t go crazy or I’ll get myself killed.”

“You’ll need someone to protect you then.”

Charles smiled. “You’re quite right. I hope I don’t sound spoiled. I really do realize how lucky I am.”

“You don’t. I understand.”

“Do you have a sword?” Charles changed the subject quickly.

“Yes I do.” Erik moved so Charles could see it attached to his waist.

“Can I hold it? Please?”

“Sure.” Erik unsheathed it, and then handed it carefully to Charles.

Charles held the sword, he was a little shaky but he seemed so excited by just holding it. Erik helped him balance it as he moved his hands. Charles then let Erik take the sword back.

“Thank you. Let’s go.” Charles beckoned Erik back down the steps in almost the same way they came. At the bottom of the stairs Charles went a different direction and guided Erik to a dimly lit corridor.

“What is this?” Erik asked with fear and excitement.

“It’s the secret passage way system. They run all over the castle.”

“Where do they go?”

“Just other parts of the castle.”

“Have you been through all of them?”

“Yep. I know the fastest way from any point in the castle to another.”

“That’s impressive.”

“Thank you.” Charles proceeded to lead Erik through the various labyrinth walls, explaining the usage and benefits of each one. Eventually they found their way back to the ballroom, which was pretty much empty save for people cleaning up.

“I guess the party’s over.” Charles realized. “I lost track of time.”

“So did I.”

“Well, after that tour, does the castle still seem so scary?”

“No.” Erik shook his head. “But I still think it’s really amazing.”

“Understandable.”

Erik began to bow. “Thank you for the tour–”

“Don’t go!” Charles cut him off. “It’s too late to go off on your own. You should stay until it’s light out.”

“No…” Erik fumbled. “That would be inappropriate of me.”

“I’m in charge and I say it’s not. So stay.”

“I guess I don’t have a choice.” Erik said, with a laugh.

“Good. Just hang on.” Charles walked off to talk to one of the servants and then returned to Erik. “They’ll set up a room for you so you can wait until morning to leave. Oh, and you must join me for breakfast too.”

Erik was confused, all that he had heard in stories was contradicting itself. He didn’t know what was appropriate behavior. “Your highness, I don’t really think all this is necessary.”

“No. Just do it please? Think of it as a reward for entertaining me tonight.”

“Of course I’ll stay, if you demand it.”

“I do. Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Charles began to leave. “Good night, Sir Erik.”

“Good night, your highness.” Erik bowed again.

When Charles had gone, a couple of the servants led Erik to his room. Erik found himself wishing he and Charles didn't have to be separated.

 


	3. Ships in the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after, lots of uncertainty.

Prince Charles woke up the next morning concerned that his honored guest from the night before might have already left. Charles knew that he had authority to tell Erik to say, and what he was doing was nice, but that didn’t mean that Erik wouldn’t get uncomfortable or find some reason to leave. He felt like he understood Erik pretty well, and he could relate to how terrified Erik felt around society. He liked Erik, the way he talked to Charles and his sincerity. He had no idea if Erik wanted to be friends with him as well.

Erik woke up just as confused as Charles was, if not more. A part of him wanted to find cause to leave before breakfast; some really important business to attend to. But then he realized how terrible doing so would be, after all he had been genuinely invited. And he found that he liked the prince. A lot. But it wasn’t his place to be in love with the prince, those were thoughts best buried deep. But it wasn’t his place to openly refuse the prince either. So he resolved to meet Charles in the dining room that Charles had shown him the night before. When he arrived, Charles was there, waiting for him.

Charles rose to his feet and walked over to meet Erik, reaching for Erik’s hand and giving it a familiar squeeze. “I’m glad you came. You won’t be sorry…” He went on to list all of the food that had been prepared for breakfast. Erik thanked him sincerely and took several helpings of the food offered and sat down.

Charles continued to interrogate Erik. “Was your night okay? Was the bed comfortable?”

“Yes. And yes. Honestly, I’ve never been in a room so nice, it was pretty amazing experience for me.”

Charles smiled. “Oh. Alright, that’s good.”

“Yes, I think so.”

“Where do you go when you leave?”

“I’m not sure. Back out to the villages, most likely.”

“Oh okay. Onto more adventures?”

“Hopefully. What will you be up to?” Erik asked, trying not to eat too quickly and seem rude.

“Still here.” Charles said.

“I’m sorry,” Erik said. “I hope you at least read a good book.”

“Thank you.” Charles said, beaming. “That’s very nice of you.”

Charles saw Erik off when he set began to set away on his horse. “Goodbye, Sir Erik. Take this with you.” He handed Erik a handkerchief.

Erik took it and placed it in his shirt, bowing as much as the horse would let him. “Thank you very much, your highness. I hope we meet again.” Erik began to ride off into the distance, Charles waved after him.


	4. Formal Reunion

A couple of months after the knight and prince parted ways, circumstances started to change in the kingdom. In the interest of his safety, Prince Charles was not allowed to leave the castle. And as if that wasn’t enough, he was required to have a knight assigned to him to give constant protection. When Charles heard of this development he immediately confronted the captain of the guard, Logan.

“Charles, this is for your safety—which I take very seriously.”

Charles sighed. “Fine. But then can I at least select the knight who will guard me?”

“You think you know how to choose a knight?” Logan laughed. “Bub, I’ve seen more battle than you could dream of. But, you’ll probably be alright either way. I suppose I could assemble a lineup.”

“I want Sir Erik.” Charles demanded, confidently.

Logan scoffed, “that young little jerk?”

Charles crossed his arms and scowled.

“Alright. We’ll find Sir Erik.”

“Good.” Charles marched away, satisfied.

 

It took several days for them to find Sir Erik, and he looked miserable as he was being brought to the castle. Miserable, that is, until he saw Prince Charles. The whole way to the castle Erik had been afraid that he was being going to be royally reprimanded or reassigned, but seeing Charles was comforting to him. Erik dismounted his horse and one of the stable hands led it away. The captain went up to Erik and led him to the castle, and to Charles.

“You were brought here to protect the prince, at the request of the prince. Your job is to guard the prince and defend him by whatever means necessary.”

Erik nodded, “I will.”

“You better not mess up.” The captain rode away from the castle.

Erik was shown to his room, which was closer to Charles’s than the other one he had stayed in, and informed about the things he needed to know, although the most important thing that was stressed was to stay with Charles.

When everyone else had left, Erik was alone with Charles.

“Thank you for coming.” Charles said to Erik.

Erik bowed. “It’s an honor, your highness.”

Charles sighed.

“Is something wrong, your highness?”

Since you’ll be spending every day with me there’s no need to address me so formally. Don’t bow.”

“If you don’t mind that, sure, your highness.”

“And for you it’s just Charles, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Thank you, Sir Lehnsherr.” Charles winked

“What?” Erik was startled.

“I’m just kidding. Erik.”

Erik smiled. “Okay. Good.”

“I would offer you a tour, but you don’t really need one.”

“I guess not.” Erik agreed.

As Charles set off and Erik followed him Charles turned back to Erik. “I’m really glad it was you who was assigned to me. I wouldn’t be as happy with someone else.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is on the shorter end, but if this goes well I'll post more often to make up for the brevity.


	5. Saddled Together

Erik had mixed feelings about his new position in the first few days of the… job. It was quite an easy task, considering that Charles didn’t do anything that was risky. But that was the problem; Erik was mostly accompanying Charles while he worked, or read, or walked around. Erik felt like all he was doing was hovering over Charles and it didn’t seem much like protection.

One morning, after a couple of days, Charles was reading in the library. He paused and looked up toward Erik.

“Do you want me to leave you alone?” Erik asked.

Charles paused without answering for a minute, trying to figure out if Erik was asking for permission to leave. “No, I was wondering if you’d like to read with me.”

“I would be happy to, if you wanted me to.”

“Come here.” Charles beckoned Erik toward him, pulling out the chair next to him.

Erik sat down. “This okay?”

Charles nodded and shifted the book so it was easily between them. Erik propped his head on his arm and read along with Charles. The next time Erik came across something interesting he looked at Charles, who looked back at him. The two shared a smile.

 

From then on whenever Charles went to read in the library he would convince Erik to sit and read with him. One day, Charles suddenly closed the book he was reading.

“Is something wrong?”

“You’re a knight.”

Erik nodded. “You’re right, I should give you your space.”

Charles shook his head. “And you can horseback ride?”

“Yes, of course.” Erik didn’t know where this was going.

“Do you think you teach me?” Charles asked.

“Teach you what?”

“Ride?”

“You don’t know how?”

Charles shook his head, frowning.

“It’s okay! I’ll teach you as well as I can.”

 

The next afternoon Erik and Charles hit the woods. Charles wasn’t comfortable on a horse, so for the first day he would ride with Erik. Erik walked his horse out into the woods, Charles walked with him. Once they stopped, Erik mounted the horse and looked down at Charles. “Okay, do what I just did. Right foot in the stirrup, swing the left over.”

Charles shakily got his first foot into the stirrup and then paused.

“Good start. Now you want to swing your other leg to the other side. Push off of your right for momentum, and you can hold me if you need to.”

As soon as he said that Charles clutched his shoulders. Charles held tightly as he moved his other leg around the horse.

“Good.” Erik praised. “Okay, since I’m the one riding the horse, I’m going to use the stirrups.” He explained as he put his feet through the metal loops. “When you start riding on your own I’ll explain it to you again.”

Charles nodded. “Okay.”

“You’re not afraid of this height are you?”

Charles looked down. “I’m fine.”

“Good. If you start feeling uncomfortable or shaky, just hold on to me. And if you want to stop, just say so and we can walk back.”

Charles nodded again. “Okay.” He said, placing his hands around Erik’s waist.

“Okay. So to start, I lightly kick the horse’s side with my heel, like so.” Erik demonstrated and the horse began a slow walk. “To turn slightly pull back on the reigns.” Erik showed Charles what he was doing. He repeated doing turns, stopping, and starting for Charles a few times. “Want to go faster?”

Charles nodded. Erik kicked the horse with his heel, the horse broke into a light trot.

“Horses have a few different speeds.” Erik explained. “There’s just walking which is what we were doing earlier, trotting which we are doing now, cantering which is like a light jog, and galloping which is pretty much running.”

Charles nodded.

“You ready to go faster?”

“Yes.”

Erik kicked the horse again, it began to canter. After a little while Erik gave it another kick and the horse began to gallop. Charles held tightly to Erik, both arms around Erik’s waist. He leaned against Erik as he watched the scenery blur by. Erik continued to guide the horse until they reached the end of the grounds.

“And that was galloping.” Erik said, then turned the horse around and it began to trot back. “You doing okay?”

Charles nodded, leaned back a little from Erik, but still leaning mostly against him.

“Okay, it’ll be getting dark by the time we get back to the stables, but tomorrow you can maybe try riding yourself?”

“Yes.” Charles was smiling and his eyes were stunningly blue against the dusky sky.

Erik was almost too distracted to speak. “Great,” was all he managed out. He tried to remember the last time that he had as good of a time with somebody as he was having with Charles, but he came up empty.


	6. The Dark of Night

That night Erik couldn’t really sleep, his mind was filled with thoughts from the day and the future. He didn’t want to just sit in bed, so he decided to slip out and explore the castle through the passages that Charles showed him. Once Erik found one of the entrances, he began to walk along the winding hallways. Erik held out one hand and felt against the wall to his right side. He began to inspect the grooves and nicks in the wall. Distracted, Erik didn’t realize that he was walking straight into something else. When Erik realized he let out a yelp and began to fall backward. A pair of hands caught Erik and straightened him up.

“I’m so sorry!” Erik exclaimed. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“It’s okay.” Erik heard Charles’s voice. “I couldn’t sleep either.”

“Oh, hi. I’m sorry.” Erik repeated.

“It’s fine. Are you okay?” Charles asked, trying to help Erik balance.

“Yes. Sorry. I was startled because I wasn’t expecting anyone else.”

“I understand, I was doing the same.” Charles sat down on the floor of the hallway. “I was trying to walk around, clear my head, and tire myself out.”

“I was kind of exploring.”

“Do you want to keep walking or just sit for awhile?”

“I’m fine with sitting, I need to catch my breath.” Erik sat down across from Charles. There wasn’t enough room for both of them, so when they sat their legs touched.

“I’m sorry about that.” Charles said again.

“It’s fine. You do this often?”

“If I can’t sleep, if I’m too concerned about things.”

“Are there things you’re concerned about?”

“Riding on one of the horses.”

“You’re afraid?” Erik asked, free of judgment.

“A little. I’ve just never tried.”

“You’ll be fine. You’ll start slow.”

“Okay thank you.”

“No problem.”

“You doing okay here? I know it’s a big adjustment.”

“Yeah, I mean definitely an adjustment, but I quite like it here.”

“That’s great.”

“Thanks.”

The two were quiet for a minute, staring down the empty hallway.

“What was your home like?” Charles asked hushedly, unassuming.

Erik began to explain everything about his life; his family’s farm, their little house, being alone when his parents died, his horse, the woods, the town square. In his reminiscing, Erik even detailed some of the trees by his house. When he paused, he looked over at Charles who appeared to be on the verge of nodding off.

“You don’t have to stop, I’m listening.” Charles breathed softly.

Erik didn’t say anything else, he just watched Charles. Sure enough, after a few minutes Charles fell asleep. Erik was afraid of crossing a boundary, but he refused to leave Charles on the cold dark floor alone. He carefully lifted Charles up and carried him out and back to his room while trying to avoid being seen by anyone. Erik laid Charles down and then feebly tried to fix the blankets over him. Charles mumbled and shifted around. Erik stopped and hurried away.

 

The next morning Erik had woken up before Charles and was eating breakfast. When Charles joined him he gave Erik a look. “You brought me back to my room last night?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t leave you on that cold floor.”

“Well, thank you.”

“Uh, do you often fall asleep there?”

“Not all the time. And if I do I try to wake up so I can get back to bed before anybody thinks I’m missing.”

“Okay. I didn’t know, but I thought I should help.”

“Thank you. And thanks for spending time with me last night. I liked hearing about your home.”

Erik smiled. “Thanks.”

“I really was awake. I really did hear everything you said.”

Erik smiled wider. “Thank you, that’s very nice.”

“We’re still going back out on the horses later, right?”

“Yeah, of course. You’re still up for it?”

“Yes. I’ll be fine.” Charles assured Erik.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everybody who's been reading and reacting, means a lot to me!


	7. Done Playing it Safe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the delay, I wanted to post this last night but my internet has been down. Thank you very much for the lovely comments.

That afternoon Erik took his horse back out, along with Charles taking his own horse. Erik walked ahead and tied his horse to a tree then turned to Charles.

“Are you not riding too?” Charles asked.

“No I will, but I want to get you set up first.”

“Okay.”

“Okay, so climb up like you did yesterday. If you need extra leverage you pull on the horse’s mane because they can’t feel it.”

Charles followed Erik’s instruction and climbed up on the horse primarily unassisted, although Erik was helping by pushing him up. “I’m good.” Charles announced.

“Do you want to just walk around a little before I get on mine to make sure everything’s good?”

“Yeah, that sounds good.” Charles repeated what Erik had done the day before to start the horse, Erik guided him along. After Charles seemed sufficiently comfortable, Erik got on his own horse.

“Want to just walk down to the stream?” Erik suggested.

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

Erik walked his horse a step or two ahead of Charles’s as they headed in the direction of the stream. After a few minutes Charles laughed and looked toward Erik “This isn’t so bad.”

“It really isn’t. The size of the horses can be kind of scary and sometimes the way they are depicted is a little off-putting, but more often than not they’re like this and it’s quite fun to ride.”

“Are they ever wild?”

“They can be. But usually once they end up sold to you they’ve been tamed quite a bit and not bad at all.”

Charles moved his horse closer to Erik’s so that they were walking side by side. Erik looked over at Charles and smiled warmly, Charles smiled back.

“Watch the branch.” Erik warned, breaking their eye contact to look forward and pausing to point Charles around the branch on the ground.

“Thank you.”

“No problem.”

Erik led Charles the rest of the way to the stream which they briefly walked through before turning around and going the opposite direction. On their way back Erik was looking down at the ground when he heard the sound of a branch crack. He looked up and saw a fox running through the trees, and then he looked over and saw Charles’s horse beginning to get spooked.

“Hang on!” Erik called to Charles, reaching over to grab the reigns of Charles’s horse and pull back tightly. As Charles’s horse began to rear back, Erik held one arm around Charles to keep him on the horse. At that same moment, Erik’s horse started to walk forward again causing Erik to fall to the ground, taking Charles with him. Erik hit the ground first with a hard thud, Charles landed on top of Erik. Thankfully, Erik wasn’t carrying any weapons with him.

“Ow.” Erik groaned. He looked over at Charles. “You okay?”

Charles nodded and laughed loudly. “Oh thanks for catching me.” He said between gasps before leaning his head back onto the ground.

Erik smiled, he was glad that Charles was okay, but he had no idea what was so funny. “What is it?”

Charles forced himself to stop laughing. “I just can’t believe I was so afraid of this, of falling. I used to love climbing things, and falling never bothered me. But then being prince took over and it made me afraid of things I never used to be. And that’s not better.”

Erik nodded. “I understand. But don’t feel like you should change yourself on my account.”

Charles turned his head so he was looking Erik in the eye. “I don’t. But I’m done playing it safe.”

“Does that mean I’m not needed here anymore?” Erik joked.

“Oh, no. You’re more needed than ever. I’m going to be living on the edge. You have to keep me from being my own downfall.”

Erik nodded. “Fair enough. Want to head back?”

“Yeah, let’s go.” Charles said. He got up first and then helped Erik up. He paused when he saw Erik holding his wrist gingerly. “I can help that when we get in.”

When Erik and Charles returned their horses to the stable, Charles wanted to hurry inside to take a look at Erik’s hand. “Just sit down. I’ll get you something.” Charles ran to get Erik a cold rag and wrapped hit around Erik’s injured hand. “By the way, thank you for trying to protect me.” He said, stroking Erik’s inflamed skin gently.


	8. Dancing through life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry for the delay! I cut a chapter that usually would have gone here and compressed what was originally two chapters into one, so I think this will finish up quicker than I originally anticipated, unless I find it in me to draw more out. Thanks for the ongoing support!

The next morning, Charles had left Erik a note outside his door that said _Come meet me in the ballroom_. When Erik got there he saw servants hustling around as Charles observed them. Charles was smiling and patiently giving directions. 

“What’s this about?” Erik asked Charles.

“There’s a ball tomorrow for a duchess’ birthday.”

Erik nodded. “Does that kind of thing happen here a lot?”

“Not all the time. But Lady Raven is a ‘dear’ friend of the family’s, so that’s why it’s here.”

“I understand.”

Charles spun toward Erik. “Come!”

“Excuse me?”

“You should come to the ball. It will be kind of like the one we met at.”

“I, um… can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t have anything to wear.” Erik said the first feeble excuse that came to mind. He just couldn’t handle himself in fancy situations.

“True. You are a little taller than me.” Charles admitted. “But we can get you appropriate clothes.”

“I can’t dance.”

“I can teach you.”

Erik sighed. “You’re making me come, aren’t you?” He appreciated the effort, but felt it would be a mistake. 

“Yes! Isn’t it your job? There could be danger at the ball.”

“Fine. I will come.” Erik agreed.

“Great.” Charles grabbed Erik by his upper arm and took him out of the ballroom and to another room to find a maid to help. “Can you please measure Sir Erik for an appropriate outfit for tomorrow?”

“Certainly.” The maid grabbed a tape measure and began to measure Erik.

Erik coughed uncomfortably as the maid worked on him, Charles smiled at him. “Can you really teach me to dance?”

“Absolutely. I’ve had lessons.”

“I'll be terrible.”

"I've got time." Charles grinned.

After Erik was done being measured, Charles took him to an empty room.

“And now we dance.” Charles declared.

“I really don’t know how.” Erik repeated.

“It’s okay.” Charles encouraged. He guided Erik’s hand to his hip, and took Erik’s other hand in his. “Relax.” He instructed.

Erik exhaled and smiled forcibly.

“Good. Now mirror what I do with my feet.” Charles began to move slowly. Erik followed him.

“Good work.” Charles whispered softly after awhile. They continued to dance until Erik had a grasp on all of the basic steps.

“Thank you for teaching me.” Erik said to Charles, he felt embarrassed that he needed the prince to teach him something like this.

“You are so ready for tomorrow!” Charles cheered, oblivious to Erik's hesitation.

 

* * *

For the party, Charles had Erik seated next to him so that they could be together through the night. They were able to talk during the dinner and Charles had much more fun than he usually did at parties and Erik didn’t have too terrible of a time.

“Why do we have to wear masks for this?” Erik asked Charles.

Charles shrugged. “It’s part of the theme, masquerade.”

Erik sighed and chalked it up to another regal custom he couldn't understand.

“Are you doing okay?”

“I guess so.” Erik shifted his mask uncomfortably, trying to breath underneath the material.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Go ahead?”

“Do you think my mask makes me look like a girl?”

Erik smiled.

“Oh my god, I’m such an idiot.”

“No! You look fine.” Erik patted Charles’s arm. Charles’s feminine features were accentuated with the mask on, but he still looked really good.

“Thank you.” Charles smiled back. “Are you going to dance at all tonight?”

“There’s no one to dance with and I’m fine.”

For the entire night Erik and Charles remained seated at the table until near the end, Charles turned to Erik. “Do you want to dance?”

Erik was bored and feeling impulsive. “Sure!”

Charles and Erik took a spot on the dance floor among the masses, assuming the position that they had been in the day before. Erik placed his hand on Charles’s waist, Charles put his on Erik’s shoulder. They began to step and sway to the music.

“This is my first time dancing at a party.” Charles confessed to Erik.

“Mine too.” Erik smiled at him, Charles smiled back.

“I’m so glad that they assigned you to me.”

“Thank you. I am too.”

They were quiet again for the rest of the song. When it ended Charles looked at Erik. “Want to keep going?”

“Sure.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

They continued to dance slowly. “Can I ask you something?” Charles asked.

“You don’t look like a girl. I promise.”

“Not that.” Charles blushed.

“Sorry, go ahead.”

“Are we friends?” Charles asked, turning even brighter red.

“Definitely.”

“I-I’m…” Charles stammered, but was interrupted by a sound of applause as the music stopped and someone began to speak.

“Charles?” The duchess called. “Charles? Where are you?”

Charles stepped up, “I’m right here.”

“Come dance with me.”

“Oh okay.” Charles walked over to her, turning around and waving at Erik. He knew that he had to dance with influential guests sometimes, but he liked dancing with Erik the most of all. 


	9. Sword in the heart and hand

It was morning, but Charles never came to breakfast. Erik looked around the castle where Charles could possibly be, especially the library and the tower, but Charles was in none of those places. Afterward Erik checked in Charles’s room and found him still in bed.

“Are you okay?” Erik asked gently.

Charles sniffled. “No.”

“What happened?” Erik rushed up and sat down on the corner of Charles’s bed.

“Stewie died.” Charles sobbed. Stewie was Charles’s dog, whom he had since he was a child.

“I’m so sorry.” Erik rubbed Charles’s shoulder.

“I’m going to miss him so much.”

“I know you will.” Erik wrapped his arms around Charles and held him. He wasn’t used to comforting people, but he remembered his parents doing that for him.

When Charles was done he started to wipe off his face, Erik helped him get up and get dressed. Charles allowed Erik to guide him out.

“Do you want to eat?” Erik asked. “Maybe you should.”

“I guess.”

Erik kept a gentle hand on Charles for awhile. Charles was starting to feel a little better.

“Can we go riding again today?”

“Of course.”

 

Charles’s riding skills had vastly improved since they had started and he was beginning to really enjoy it. Charles rode ahead of Erik to show off and despite the fact that Erik could catch him every time, he was still impressed. They stopped at the stream to sit down and eat lunch.

“Do you think dogs go to heaven?” Charles asked.

Erik shrugged. “I hope so. If they do, I think my mom and dad would find Stewie and take good care of him.”

“Stewie would like that.”

That night Erik was about to leave Charles in his room when Charles stopped him. “I don’t really feel like sleeping tonight. Do you want to stay with me and play chess for a little while?”

“Sure.”

They sat on the bed and played chess for hours. Charles mainly teaching Erik new games that he didn’t know about. They played until Erik accidentally fell asleep after several hours and Charles fell asleep not much later.

 

** * * * **

 

The next morning when Erik woke up he initially felt mortified by his lack of professionalism. But then he remembered the rough time Charles was having the night before. He didn’t know whether he should stay for Charles or leave him alone.

“Good morning.” Charles said softly.

“Oh. Hi.” Erik responded.

“Hi.”

“Sorry I fell asleep here.” Erik apologize.

“It’s okay. I don’t mind.”

“Thanks. I had an idea of something you might want to try today.”

Charles sat upright. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, we’ll go later. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it.”

“Sounds good.”

“Okay. I’m going to go get dressed. I’ll see you when you’re out.”

“Okay.” Charles smiled.

Erik turned back toward Charles. “Hey, glad you’re okay.”

“Thank you.”

Erik crept back to his room, got changed, and went back out to eat. Charles was already out and sitting at the table.

“Hi.” Charles said. “Long time no see.”

“Indeed. How are you?”

“I’m fine. But thanks for spending time with me.”

“It’s no problem at all.”

Instead of going out to the stables, Erik took Charles into the arena.

“What are we doing?” Charles asked.

Erik picked up a sword from the wall. “Fencing.”

“What?!”

“You told me you wanted to learn. I thought since you have gotten so good with the horse that maybe you would want to try this too.”

“Yeah, but I don’t know the first thing about fencing.”

“Of course. But you’ll get the hang of it real fast, it’s pretty simple.”

“Oh… okay.”

“Here. First you gotta hold it.”

Charles took the sword in his shaky hand.

“Wrap your fingers like this.” Erik moved Charles’s fingers around the handle.

“Okay. Let’s just start with the basic step. So first here you are in the en garde stance. Now in an advance you step forward with that front foot, up off of your toes, and land on your heel, then bring your back foot up with it.”

Charles stepped forward. “Wait, what now?”

“Just front foot forward. Then back foot follows.”

With Erik’s pointing, Charles slowly executed the step.

“Keep doing that until you’ve got it down, then we can bring in the arm motion.”

Charles tried to repeat the step, but messed up. He tried again and he nearly tripped over himself. He kept trying, to no avail. “God!” Charles cried. “I suck!”

“No… you don’t.” Erik comforted.

Charles threw down his sword. “Yes I do!” He stormed out angrily. Charles ran away, up to the library, and sat on the cushion by the window. He sat on the couch, fuming, and tried to catch his breath.

“Hi.” He heard from above him.

Charles looked up at Erik, who was standing by him. Erik sat down across from Charles. “You okay?” He asked.

Charles crossed his arms. “I’m sorry for yelling at you.”

“It’s fine. I know that you’re frustrated. We can take a different approach tomorrow.”

“What's the point? I'm not a knight, I'll never be a knight, I just look like a foolish child."

“It’s not foolish, you'll be able to protect yourself. And there's nothing wrong with trying to learn, don't be hard on yourself.”

“Thanks. That’s sweet.”

Erik shrugged. “I can teach you, I know you can learn.”

 

** * * * **

 

The next day when Erik and Charles went to the arena to practice fencing Erik held up a jacket for Charles. “Here put this on. And the helmet too.”

“What for?”

“For protection, of course. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“Why didn’t I wear this yesterday?”

“There wasn’t much of a risk, because you were doing it on your own. But since I’ll be doing it with you, you should be protected.”

“I don’t want you getting hurt either.”

“That’s nice. Don’t worry, I’ve got gear too.” Erik held up his own suit and helmet. “I want to help you get suited up first.” He helped Charles into the jacket and fastened it up for him, then placed the helmet on Charles and tightened it. “You feel good? Like it’s on good.”

Charles was flustered, but nodded.

“Good.” Erik remarked. “Will you help me get this on?” He turned around, prompting Charles to tie up the back of the jacket. Charles helped him out, carefully tying the strings.

Erik turned back around to Charles. “Let’s get started.” He stepped outward to where he had free-space. “Let’s try to get you doing the basic movement.” He modeled the steps for Charles.

Charles flinched away as Erik moved his arm.

“You okay?” Erik asked. “I wasn’t going to hurt you.”

“I know, and I trust you, but—”

“I’m glad you do, but you’ll be fine no matter what. The jacket will protect you, and look, the tips on this are soft.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. Go ahead, stab at me.”

Charles shook his head.

“Do it! It’s fine.”

Charles held the sword apprehensively and jabbed it toward Erik.

“Didn’t hurt.”

“You’re lying to make me not scared.”

“I’m really not. Yeah, sure I felt it, but it doesn’t hurt.”

“Okay. You promise?”

“I promise.”

“Okay.”

“Good. Now just mirror what I do, I will start slowly and pick it up as you get it. You’ll be fine, it’s not much different from dancing as far as the footwork.”

Charles blushed underneath his helmet, Erik was calling him a good dancer.

“Let’s go.” Erik slowly began the first step, with Charles mirroring him.

After a few hours of learning and practicing, Charles was able to do very small scale sparring. Erik was careful not to push it beyond Charles’s capabilities. At one point, Charles struck Erik’s side instead of his sword.

“Oh no!” Charles exclaimed. “I am so sorry.”

“No, good job!” Erik insisted. “That would have been a good hit if you were fighting for real.”

“Thank you.”

“Want to be done for the day?”

“Sure. Sounds good.”

“Good, you’ve done a great job. I knew you would get it quickly.” Erik said as he started to help Charles get his helmet off.

Charles blushed. “Thank you. Let’s go rest somewhere.


End file.
